OAKLAND OUTDOORS: The Shiawassee Basin: a gift of the glaciers

Snowflakes laced a carpet of dry leaves, soft green moss and crunchy lichens that capped the tops of glacial erratics, boulders deposited some 12,000 years ago during the end of the last ice age.

With leaves down, I could see branches and vines intertwined in a cold landscape of ridges, moraines, hills, swales and wetlands that comprise the Shiawassee Basin Preserve, a protected wildland nestled away near Davisburg in Springfield Township.

In the distance a rat-tat-tat-tat-tat resonated, perhaps confirmation that a pileated woodpecker was blasting away for breakfast on a dead tree.

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That was the serene scene that greeted me last Saturday just hours after the season's first snow. Steaming coffee set the mood as I set out to explore the 514 acres of the Shiawassee Basin Preserve and the adjacent 37 acres of Davis Lake Overlook, both managed by Springfield Township Parks and Recreation. The landscape is rich with ecologically valuably flora and an incredible variety of wildlife and includes one of Michigan's most pristine fens.

I was eager for wildlife sightings, although it was way too cold for reptiles or amphibians. With winter at our door step, Michigan's only venomous snake, the Massasauga rattlesnake, had already retreated to moist crayfish burrows and that is where they will stay, partially submerged in chilly water in a state of near suspended animation until spring warmth stirs wildlife into a controlled frenzy of activity.

At about the time the rattlers will emerge from their crayfish burrows, the sleek and beautiful 13-lined ground squirrels of the preserve that will have lost almost half their body mass during hibernation will scurry out of their dry land burrows below the frost line and resume their topside hunting of grasshoppers, beetles and seeds in the sun-soaked meadows and fields.

There is a great advantage to cold season hikes in these connected natural areas. Mosquitos are gone and the absence of tree leaves unfolds a panorama of natural beauty. A mind that wanders does not have to wander far to image the days when Mastodons stomped across the landscape. As I hiked, I noticed a flash of blaze orange in the distance. A hunter was on the move.

Hunting is permitted at the Shiawassee Basin Preserve so hikers during deer season should wear bright colored clothes and practice mutual respect.

I started my trek after driving a short distance up Eaton Road, just east of the fire station. Eaton Road crosses the train tracks -- use caution there -- and passes the entrance to the Davis Lake Overlook. A bit further up the road on the west side is a small parking area for the Shiawassee Basin Preserve. A loop trail of just a bit less than a mile leads from the lot through the woods to an observation deck that overlooks a small kettle lake, a lake formed by a block of ice that left a depression in the raw mix of soil and pebbles deposited as the main ice sheet melted away.

The not so distance rumble of a freight train reminded me that the quaint town of Davisburg has a rich history of settlements and on occasion wildfires spawned by passing trains. Fire is an integral part of the landscape and evidence of recent prescribed fires to maintain the habitat may be noted by an observant hiker.

Be sure to read the list of rules in the parking lot before starting out. The trail is hilly and all natural surface, but easy to follow, and it hugs a ridge line presenting excellent views of the diverse landscape. The trail is not baby-stroller friendly and there are no facilities. Restrooms are available in the civic center complex.

Winter active wildlife includes, gray and red fox, deer, coyote and the woodland loving Cooper's hawk. The habitat is also perfect for screech and great horned owls. For those who see nothing but squirrels and perhaps turkey, take pleasure in the fact that other species saw you.

Shortly after starting out, the trail divides, but both sections lead to the observation deck. I stayed on the north Meadow Trail. Stand on the deck and listen -- the reward will be an adventure in sounds. Branches creaked, chickadees sung and the call of red-tailed hawk greeted me. I'm betting at night barred owls sing to the moonlit woods. Sadly vandals found it necessary to emphasize their degenerate ways by writing words of stupidity on the secluded deck.

On the return trek, I dipped lower to take the Woodland Trail a few hundred feet east of the deck. This trail embraces a slightly different habitat with a greater variety of shrubs and presents some evidence of old farm fields and then hooks back up with the Meadow Trail. In spring, I am sure it is alive with frog song.

After returning to my car I drove back down Eton Road towards Davisburg Road and stopped on the shoulder of the road near the gate for the Davis Lake Overlook. A short gently curved path took me past old fence lines and then through slope-hugging hardwoods and near a frosty wetlands.

Near the edge of Davis Lake, blankets of smoky-gold needles under each tamarack tree drew my attention just as a trio of mallards flew overhead and then pitched pondward settling down perhaps for soupy breakfast meal of duckweed.

A very good cold season morning for me, the ducks and perhaps creatures I never saw.

The Shiawassee Basin Preserve park office is located in the Springfield Township Civic Center complex at 12000 Davisburg Road in Davisburg. Shiawassee Basin Preserve and Davis Lake Overlook trailheads are on Eaton Road north of Davisburg Road. For more information, call 248-846-6558 or visit www.springfield-twp.us.